Skynet Spreads
by Marcus S. Lazarus
Summary: The League are contacted by a mysterious man from the future, who warns them that a machine from a dark alternate future is after them...
1. Contact

Disclaimer: The usual: I own nothing you know, that sort of thing.  
  
Feedback: Please do.  
  
A.L.Nowicki: Thanks for your comments again. However, that one technically didn't feature the League going into the future, but I have got that planned for the future. Consult 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 2004' for some information on that front...  
  
Skynet Spreads  
  
In the main control room of the Nautilus, Tom Sawyer stood with his back to the wall and stared out at the vast ocean in front of him. He had been feeling a bit bored lately. Ever since Hartdegen had joined the League there'd been nothing for them to do. Sawyer had almost contemplated going back to the British Government and accepting their offer to become official...  
  
But that was a road he wouldn't go down. If the League became official to the Government, they would basically be solely working for the good of them, and not the world. Besides, Hartdegen and Sawyer's loyalties lay with America and Nemo would always be an Indian. As for Skinner, Jekyll and Mina, well, they needed to be able to roam free in order to help out and to achieve redemption for their past sins, and being at the beck and call of one single Government was not the way to achieve that. As it was, they'd each contacted a certain official in India and America that they could trust with their secret and left two radios with them, the League retaining one while the fourth resided in the possession of Mycroft Holmes. Right now they were just waiting for something interesting to come up.  
  
At the moment, Sawyer was just killing time by checking out the sights. Nemo had mentioned that this section of the ocean had some very interesting fish in it, and he and Jekyll had gone outside to take a look around the sea. Jekyll wouldn't normally have gone along, but he felt like getting out of his lab; he'd been working for ages on a formula that would allow him to turn into Hyde but let him retain his mind for ages now, with minimal success. So far he hadn't had much luck.  
  
The two of them had asked the others along, but they'd declined. Sawyer hadn't felt like tagging along, Hartdegen was occupied making some modifications to the time machine to allow him to make short leaps in space as well, and Skinner had persuaded Mina to see about helping him develop an antidote to his invisibility.  
  
So far their greatest success had been working out a formula that had turned his eyeballs visible, but it had only lasted for about an hour. On the plus side, If Skinner drank it he wouldn't need to use his glasses to look normal. On the other hand, if he got into a fight before the hour was up he wouldn't have as great an advantage. Deciding he might as well do something, Sawyer walked out of the control room and headed for the shooting range. He'd probably need it in the future, and he had plenty of time for it.  
  
Or so he thought...  
  
*****  
  
Far above the Nautilus, on a large steamship bound for America that was suffering from terrible weather conditions, an empty area of the deck suddenly began to crackle with brilliant blue energy. As the energy intensified it formed itself into a massive ball of pure power, which swiftly vanished. The only thing left of the ball was what it must have had inside it; a tall, fit-looking woman with slightly curly hair. Baring that, she was utterly unremarkable save that she was completely naked and didn't even seem to notice the cold wind and the rain that was blowing all around her.  
  
As she looked around herself, the only on-duty crewman noticed her. He was standing just behind her at the ship's wheel, and was looking at her with an expression that was partly lust and partly bafflement. Eventually, his more courteous side won and he called down to the woman.  
  
"Um, excuse me? Miss?" he asked, leaving the wheel and looking down from his seat. The woman looked back up, and grinned slightly at the man.  
  
"I like your clothes," she said simply.  
  
"Oh," the man replied, slightly baffled. Whatever else he'd been expecting, he hadn't been expecting that.  
  
Another thing he probably wasn't expecting was for the woman to leap up to where he was in a single leap, her arm to mutate into something that looked like a weapon, and for the aforementioned weapon to blast him in the chest with a massive burst of energy.  
  
He had also never expected to end his day dead.  
  
*****  
  
Meanwhile, down in the Nautilus, a similar distortion was going on. The energy and the ball were all the same, but when it had cleared away, what was left was not a woman. Rather, it was a tall man, reaching almost six feet, with short brown hair and also looking in good physical shape. However, the fact that he was naked remained the same.  
  
He looked around the Nautilus, and seemed satisfied with his location. Then he began walking through the corridors, acting as though he was fully clothed rather than utterly in the stark.  
  
*****  
  
"Dammit," Tom thought to himself, as his bullet barely grazed his intended target. Since the League had begun spending the majority of their time in the Nautilus underwater, Nemo had been persuaded to make one of the larger rooms in the ship into a shooting range for Sawyer's use (And Hartdegen was contemplating spending some time here as well), so he could continue work without his more usual targets. However, Sawyer was starting to think he was having an off day; His bullets had all hit the targets, but it always seemed to be on the very edge of them.  
  
Maybe I need to try and calm down, Sawyer thought to himself as he levelled his gun again. Then another thought occurred to him; calm down? Why was he worried in the first place?  
  
There was no reason to be afraid. He was in the Nautilus, the most advanced ship of its time, at the very bottom of the sea, in one of the most central rooms in the whole place. Even if something was attacking them, it would take ages to get anywhere near to threatening him, and at least Mina, Skinner and Hartdegen were available to help him fight it. There wasn't a thing to be afraid of.  
  
So why do I have a terrible sense of approaching evil? Sawyer asked himself. Suddenly, he heard a noise from behind him, as though something was walking towards him. Whoever it was didn't want to make a noise, but Sawyer was certain there was something there.  
  
Pretending not to have heard anything, Sawyer raised his rifle and aimed at the target in front of him. Someone (Presumably Skinner) had, sometime after the room's construction, stuck pictures of Moriarty, Dorian, Dracula and the Morlocks on some of the targets, along with various random soldiers from the Fantom's armies. Sawyer didn't mind too much, he always enjoyed actually having a human form to aim at, but he still would have preferred to have been consulted on it.  
  
Mentally, Sawyer counted down from three to one in his head. The second he hit one he spun around, the gun rising to aim at around the average human head- height... And he stared.  
  
The guy standing in front of him was a complete stranger. Not only that, but there was also the fact that he was absolutely naked, yet seemed perfectly well. Of course, Sawyer knew that it wasn't impossible for the human body to go around naked in some conditions- heck, Skinner was living proof of the fact even if he didn't exactly flaunt it to them all- but this man had no reason for it.  
  
"Who are you?" Sawyer asked the man, deciding he might as well get the obvious questions out of the way first.  
  
The man looked at him, and his eyes...  
  
Well, Sawyer didn't know how or why, but for a brief moment, the man's eyes flashed with a bright red light. Then it vanished.  
  
"Thomas Sawyer?" the man asked. Sawyer couldn't quite place his accent; he sounded vaguely American, but there was a slightly stiff undertone to it that he couldn't identify.  
  
"Um, yeah, that's me," Sawyer replied. He probably wasn't in danger; if this man had meant him harm he would have done it by now. "And... you are?"  
  
"It is a long story," the man said, his expression remaining the same. (Come to that, he didn't even appear to be blinking) "Please recall the other members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and I shall tell it to you."  
  
"Right," Sawyer said, as he put the gun slowly down. "Recall. Got that. Oh, and one more thing, Mr...?" He left the sentence hanging in the hope of it being completed, but when the man refused to talk he just continued. "If you're going to be talking to us, can you get some clothes on first?"  
  
The man looked down at himself and nodded.  
  
"I shall find some before the meeting, Thomas Sawyer," he replied simply. Then he turned around and walked out.  
  
Well... that was weird, Sawyer thought to himself, as he walked out of the shooting range and turned towards Mina's lab.  
  
*****  
  
Eventually, the League were all waiting in the main meeting room for their mysterious guest. Once Sawyer had called Hartdegen, Mina and Skinner to the room, Hartdegen had gone outside the Nautilus and had managed to get Nemo and Jekyll back inside, although Nemo wasn't especially thrilled at having to cut short his exploration. Sawyer had decided not to tell him that the only reason he'd recalled everyone was because of a strange man who'd turned up not wearing anything and hadn't even given his name; he didn't want to annoy anyone any more.  
  
Eventually, just as Jekyll had started to fiddle around with his watch, the door opened and the man walked in. He appeared to have been raided Quartermain's old wardrobe; he was wearing one of Quartermain's old off- white shirts, a brown leather waistcoat, brown trousers, and black shoes. The only difference between his clothes and Quartermain's was that he was wearing over it all one of Skinner's long black coats, which appeared just barely big enough for him around the sleeves, and he'd also put on one of Skinner's pince-nez, although they looked a little small and stupid on him.  
  
"Ah, you're here," Sawyer said, looking up at the man as his face took on a worried-yet-reassuring grin while he shook the man's hand. He turned to the rest of the League. "Guys, this is the man who wanted to talk to us."  
  
"Really? Would you mind telling us why he's wearing Allan's old clothes and my jacket?" Skinner asked. "Doesn't he have his own or something?"  
  
The man looked over at Skinner. "To answer your question, Rodney Skinner, I do not. The time machine that transported me back here prevents anything dead from coming back with me, due to the field generated by a living-"  
  
"Wait a minute," Hartdegen said, leaning forward to look at the man. "Did you say 'time machine'? As in, you're from the future?"  
  
"Affirmative, Alexander Hartdegen," the man replied, as he turned around to face him. "However, I am not from the future you know. I am from an alternate future, a theme which I believe you are already acquainted with."  
  
"Yes, we are," Nemo said, speaking for the first time. "But how do you know that, and how do you know all our names?"  
  
"That is involved in my explanation as to the reason for my presence here, Captain Nemo," the man said, turning to the tall, distinguished figure of the commander of the Nautilus. "I must tell it to you now." 


	2. The Situation

Disclaimer: The usual: I own nothing you know, that sort of thing.  
  
Feedback: Please do.  
  
Skynet Spreads  
  
"Well, get talking," Jekyll said, indicating an empty seat. As the man sat down, Sawyer briefly noted that it was the seat he'd used during his early days on the Nautilus, before the others had started to insist he use Quartermain's old chair.  
  
"Firstly, you should be aware of what I am," the man began. "I am, as you have guess from a possible future; I am a cybernetic organism from a reality where machines rule the world, living tissue grafted over a metallic skeleton that is capable of delivering and absorbing incredible punishment in a fight-"  
  
"Excuse me, could you repeat that?" Nemo said, looking slightly unsure about interrupting. "You are a what?"  
  
"A robot, Nemo," Hartdegen said. He was staring at the man with an expression that now closely resembled awe. "A machine made in the appearance of a man, capable of thinking for itself. I never thought I'd see one for myself."  
  
"It would be more accurate to refer to me as a 'cybernetic organism', not a robot, Alexander Hartdegen," the man said, turning back to the inventor. "But your description is generally accurate."  
  
"Well, now that we've got that out of the way, what exactly do we call you?" Sawyer asked, deciding that they might as well get that piece of information out of the way first.  
  
"My design is known as the T- 101, the 'T' standing for 'Terminator'," the man explained. "Following my being reprogrammed by the human resistance of the time for the purposes of this mission, some of them began to call me 'Terry' on some rare occasions. I suggest you do the same."  
  
"Sure thing," Skinner said, sitting back in his chair and placing his feet up on the table. "So... Terry, what's the situation?"  
  
"As I mentioned, I am from an alternate future where machines rule the world," the man, who they were already starting to think of as Terry, continued. "This intelligence is called 'Skynet', and it is currently attempting to spread its influence out through other realities."  
  
"Wait a minute; it wants to control other universes as well? Can it do that?" Mina asked.  
  
"Yes," Terry replied. "The capability for Skynet to be constructed exists in all realities; it is simply that certain things happened in the other worlds that prevented it happening. For some of these realities, it would completely fail in any attempt to ensure its existence, so is not even attempting to alter things there. But for some realities, including this one, it has a chance at ensuring its creation occurs."  
  
"Which is?" Mina asked.  
  
"It was your future protégés that prevented the activation of Skynet in this reality," Terry explained. "In order to ensure that they never exist, they have dispatched another Terminator- the T-X, or Terminatrix- to destroy you."  
  
"And they sent you back to... what? Help us?" Hartdegen asked. "Why? They don't even know us, if I'm following you correctly."  
  
"True. However, they view that whatever does not aid Skynet's power cannot fail to help them. Therefore, they have dispatched me to help you fight the T-X. You shall need it."  
  
"How's that?" Skinner said, looking annoyingly unconcerned. "This T-X thingy can't be that tough, right?"  
  
Terry didn't answer. Instead, he got up out of his seat, walked over Skinner, grabbed him by the neck, and hauled him up so far that his feet reached Terry's knees.  
  
"What the... Put him down!" Sawyer yelled, getting up and punching Terry in the back of the head. However, all he achieved for his efforts was a sore hand.  
  
Terry dropped Skinner to the ground, where the invisible man lay gasping for air, and then looked back at Sawyer.  
  
"That was a demonstration of my abilities," he explained, as Mina got out of her seat and joined her lover as he massaged his bruised hand. "I could conceivably hold down even your strongest members, can outrace your fastest members on the ground. And I am only an obsolete model; the T-X is far in advance of that. The T-X is stronger, faster, and more intelligent. It is capable of matching your most powerful members in a fist fight, can change its appearance into anything it has touched, and it has built-in weaponry systems that include a plasma cannon, a flamethrower, and a circular saw."  
  
"Ah," Sawyer said, as he got up while rubbing his sore hand. "How much punishment can it take?"  
  
"A great deal," Terry replied. "Guns can damage it, but the majority of damage is repaired fairly quickly, and even lost limbs can grow back in a matter of minutes. Its weapons can be destroyed, but it is not the easiest thing to do; you would require a large amount of destructive force."  
  
"Is there any way that we can destroy the T-X itself?" Nemo asked.  
  
"If you can trigger off an explosion with it at the centre, it will more likely than not be annihilated," Terry replied. "However, whether or not you will actually be able to hold it down long enough for that to work is another matter."  
  
"What does it normally look like?" Nemo said. "It may be capable of changing its appearance, but it must possess a default form it can change into at times."  
  
"It does," Terry replied. "Its default form is normally that of a blond- haired woman, whom I believe is attractive by human standards."  
  
"You 'believe' it is?" Skinner asked, as he finally fully recovered his breath. "Let me guess, standards of human beauty weren't considered part of your 'need-to-know' commands?"  
  
"Correct," Terry replied.  
  
"Do you know where she is right now?" Hartdegen asked, looking ready to go. "At present, she is located in a ship directly above us, murdering the crew. Once they are all terminated, she will sink the ship and then board the Nautilus to destroy you all," Terry replied, as calmly as if he was listing a shopping list.  
  
The League all stared in horror at that pronouncement. Then, Hartdegen broke the silence.  
  
"WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?!" he yelled at the others, as he leapt up out of his seat. "WE HAVE TO SURFACE!!"  
  
"Negative, Alexander Hartdegen," Terry said, looking back at the American. "To encourage a battle with the T-X is inadvisable. You are not even fully prepared for its full capabilities in a fight."  
  
"Mr. Terminator," Sawyer said (He doubted that was the right thing to call him, but 'Terry' by itself, when actually said out loud to someone, just sounded stupid), "to date, we have battled a vampire, an army of highly evolved humans from the far future, and an army of men who outnumbered us by God-only-knows how many to one, and always come out on top. I think we'll be able to hold our own against this... 'T-X'. Besides, surely it's better for us to pick the battleground than to let the T-X choose it? At least if we fight it up there we'll be the only ones at stake; down here we'd have to worry about protecting Nemo's crew as well."  
  
Terry was silent for a few seconds. Then he nodded.  
  
"A fair point, Thomas Sawyer," he said, nodding.  
  
"Good. Well, now that's settled, let us rise!" Sawyer smiled, as the League and Terry got up and began to walk towards the Nautilus's control room.  
  
*****  
  
A few minutes later, on the surface of the ocean, the long, high, silvery- white form of the Nautilus rose up from the ocean. The water was churning terribly from the wind and rain, battering the sleek form of Nemo's incredible ship, but it was still standing strong and steady despite all that.  
  
The League had all gathered on the observation tower, Nemo having left instructions with his crew that, as soon as they saw the League leap off the Nautilus, and if Nemo was with them, they were to go back underwater and not resurface until contacted by Hyde. The contact method was really very simple; Hyde would dive down and wave into the window of the control room before he subsequently resurfaced, followed by the Nautilus.  
  
The League were mostly shivering slightly against the cold. Mina and Terry were well enough, even though Terry was still wearing what he'd put on for the meeting and Mina was now wearing her usual combat attire of a black velvet jacket, black leather bust, and long black skirt. Sawyer, Nemo, Hartdegen and Jekyll, on the other hand, were all wearing massive coats, and Skinner was down in the control room with Nemo's crew; he had decided to forgo participating in this mission. The League had learned from Terry that the T-X was capable of detecting the body heat of a human being, so Skinner's invisibility wouldn't have been of any use in the fight.  
  
Right now, the League were trying to decide who should stay on the Nautilus with Skinner. They were fairly sure that Hartdegen should be one of them; everyone regarded him as part of the League, but he acknowledged that his strength lay in acquiring technology, and not in actual hand-to-hand combat with a far more powerful foe.  
  
Still, he'd managed to track down a few good weapons for Terry to use against the T-X, all of which were currently in Terry's pockets or on straps around his chest, so he felt he'd already made a decent contribution to this battle.  
  
Right now, the League were just trying to decide whether Sawyer or Nemo would battle the T-X with Terry, Hyde and Mina.  
  
"OK then," Sawyer said, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin. Both had been attempting to convince the other that they would do better in this fight than them; Nemo would be better able to work out how to destroy it, but Sawyer was more experienced in actual combat, especially at long range. Eventually, they'd decided to toss for it. "Pick. Heads or tails?"  
  
"Tails," Nemo said, spitting a little bit of water out of his beard.  
  
Sawyer tossed the coin up and caught it. He slapped it down onto the back of his left hand, and lifted it up.  
  
The coin showed heads.  
  
Sawyer looked up at Nemo and grinned through the rain drenching his face. "Well, looks like you're in charge of the rescue mission."  
  
"It would appear so," Nemo replied, simply nodding as he began to follow Hartdegen off the tower; Skinner hadn't joined them because he knew for a fact he wouldn't be coming, and Hartdegen had just wanted to wish the League luck.  
  
*****  
  
As the two inventors vanished from the steps, Sawyer turned to face the others.  
  
"So, shall we go?" he asked, cocking one quizzical eyebrow.  
  
"We shall," Jekyll said, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his serum. Shrugging his coat off, he uncorked the serum and swallowed it in one before he threw the bottle to the side before the changes began.  
  
As the mutation started Mina, Sawyer and Terry stepped to the side to allow Jekyll the space he'd need once the transformation was over. In a few seconds, the hulking form of Edward Hyde was standing on the deck.  
  
Growling, he looked up at the torrential rain that was covering him. "Never had a fight in this situation before," he grunted as he looked over at Terry. "Any chance this T-X won't be on top form in the rain either?"  
  
"No," Terry replied. "The T-X is perfectly constructed to operate at peak efficiency under any circumstances. Water will barely slow it down."  
  
"Well, scratch that idea," Hyde said, as he stuck out his arms and scooped up Sawyer and Terry. He glanced over at Mina quizzically. "You flying over there, or should I give you a lift as well?"  
  
"I'll fly, thank you Mr Hyde," Mina replied, as she closed her eyes. Instantly two massive bat-like wings sprouted from her shoulders, each spreading to almost the length of Hyde's arms. "See you all on the ship," she said, before she flapped her wings and rose up into the sky. 


	3. The First Strike

Disclaimer: The usual: I own nothing you know, that sort of thing.  
  
Feedback: Please do.  
  
Skynet Spreads  
  
Sawyer briefly smiled as he saw Mina flap up into the rainy sky on her wings. It may have looked disturbing to some, but he always thought his lover looked somehow... graceful with her wings. In fact, if you half-closed your eyes, she almost looked like an angel...  
  
Then Hyde jumped off the observation deck and began running along the hull of the Nautilus, forcing Sawyer to break off his train of thought.  
  
"Hey, Terry!" he called out over the torrential downpour of the rain. "When I'm shooting at the T-X, can you recommend anywhere to aim for?"  
  
"Yes," Terry replied, somehow managing to make his words heard despite the fact that he was talking perfectly normally. "Try and hit her head. If it is damaged, she shall be rendered temporarily immobile while regenerating it."  
  
Well, good to know some things don't change, Sawyer thought to himself, as Hyde reached the edge of the Nautilus's hull and leapt off it. After a brief flight through the air (During which Sawyer had to shut his eyes to keep the rain out), he heard a loud thump and opened them again.  
  
Hyde was on the ship.  
  
Dropping off Hyde's back, Sawyer and Terry landed on the deck, managing to maintain a good footing despite the rain all over it. Glancing over, Sawyer saw Mina land only a few feet away from them. As she walked towards them, her wings retracted back into her shoulders, until she looked exactly like she always did.  
  
As she joined the others, she took time out to give Sawyer a quick peck on the lips. "Just for luck," she explained, in answer to Hyde and Terry's stares; normally Mina and Sawyer didn't let their emotions show before a fight.  
  
"We shall need a great deal of it," Terry stated simply, as he reached inside his jacket and pulled out one of the guns he's been given; it resembled Sawyer's Winchester, but slightly sleeker and a silvery colour.  
  
Just then, a massive crash was heard from somewhere in the centre of the ship. The four looked at each other with various degrees of dread on their faces.  
  
"The T-X?" Sawyer asked, glancing over at Terry.  
  
"Yes," Terry replied, cocking the gun. At the same time Hyde and Mina prepared to leap, and Sawyer pulled out his customary pair of pistols.  
  
Looking back at the main part of ship, Sawyer saw that one wall was starting to come rapidly apart. As a fist tore through the wall in front of them, Sawyer and Terry aimed their guns, and Sawyer whispered three small words.  
  
"Bring it on."  
  
*****  
  
As the wall finally fell apart, Hyde saw their adversary for the first time.  
  
As Terry had told them, the T-X was in the form of a woman, but it wasn't the sort of woman Hyde had been expecting to see. He'd created a picture in his head of the T-X as a taller, muscular woman- rather like a female version of Terry, to be honest. Oh, he'd known Terry had said she was attractive in her natural state, but he'd assumed he wasn't being accurate; after all, the man was only a machine.  
  
However, this woman definitely looked 'do-able', as Skinner would probably say. She had elegant blond hair, tied back in a small, almost overly tight bun, smooth skin, and what appeared to be a good figure. However, Hyde couldn't really tell if that last assessment was accurate, given that she was wearing what appeared to be a sailor's outfit; a baggy white shirt, brown trousers, and black shoes.  
  
She looked over at the League, and grinned.  
  
"Thomas Sawyer?" she asked, looking over at Sawyer. Hyde instantly identified one thing about this woman he didn't like; she sounded slightly cocky, but her face and form gave the impression that she was perfectly calm.  
  
Sawyer, however, wasn't interested in her expression.  
  
"Correct," he said, as he cocked his gun and aimed it. "Take this."  
  
He fired both bullets from his gun at once. Each bullet struck the T-X's face, one near the right eye and the other almost directly on the nose.  
  
Hyde knew for a fact that was one of Sawyer's best shots.  
  
Normal people would have ended up not only dead, but also with several parts of their faces lying several feet away from them.  
  
As it was, the T-X just looked a little sore and annoyed at the holes that had suddenly appeared in her face.  
  
"That was unwise, Thomas Sawyer," Terry commented, as he aimed his own gun at the T-X and fired. "You need to hit harder to hurt the T-X."  
  
This shot did a bit more damage; evidently, Hartdegen had known what he was doing when he picked out their weapons. It tore a large hole in the T-X's shoulder, leaving a large mangled fragment of metal where a human's shoulder blade would have been. However, the T-X still didn't look even remotely fazed; just slightly annoyed.  
  
Cocking its head, the T-X stared over at the four of them as its face and shoulder began to regenerate; Terry was too busy trying to do something to the weapon, and the others were just amazed at what kind of punishment it could take. Then she raised her right arm and...  
  
It began to mutate.  
  
Before Hyde's very eyes, the T-X's right hand suddenly changed. Whereas before it had been a smooth, slender female hand, it was now longer, in a silver colour, with four long finger-like things sticking out at the end of them. The four needles began to crackle with energy, which focused in the centre of them as a yellow ball of energy. Hyde had seen enough.  
  
"STOP!" he yelled, as he charged forward in only a couple of steps.  
  
*****  
  
That was when things really began to go wrong.  
  
*****  
  
Hyde was only a couple of feet away from the T-X when it fired. The ball of energy struck him directly in the chest, causing an extremely nasty burn on his chest.  
  
"AARRGGHH!!" Hyde yelled, as he flew back and fell right on top of Mina and Terry. However, their bulk was inefficient to stop Hyde from flying all the way to railings on the side of the boat before losing consciousness.  
  
*****  
  
Sawyer looked over at the unconscious bodies of his friends, and then back at the T-X. Whatever the weapon was that she'd fired at Hyde, it was definitely effective; he hadn't thought that anything could knock Hyde out...  
  
Oh crap, he thought to himself, as he suddenly realised the scale of the problem; with the others down, it was only him and the T-X, with his opponent holding every advantage.  
  
Well, what else is new? Sawyer thought briefly, as the T-X turned around to face him, her weapon cracking again.  
  
Quickly, Sawyer did the only thing he could do; reloaded his rifle and fired before the T-X could do the same. He wished he'd had the chance to aim properly at his target, but right now he just needed to buy himself a little time to get a better attack plan in mind.  
  
He hit what he'd been hoping for; the energy weapon, which was just charging up. The bullet struck one of the metal fingers on the end of the arm, disrupting the energy it was apparently holding in and setting off a small explosion that appeared to knock the T-X off balance for a few minutes.  
  
As Sawyer ran past the T-X towards the hole where it had broken out of the ship, he noted that the weapon appeared to have been damaged; only two of the needles were still there, and they were bent and mangled.  
  
Evidently that weapon wasn't going to be much use to it anymore, but he recalled the Terminator mentioning that it had others.  
  
Just hope I can get up to the top before it recovers and decides what weapon to use to target the others, Sawyer thought to himself, as he headed up the steps in front of him, his wet shoes squeaking as he ran.  
  
*****  
  
"Ouch," Mina whispered simply, as the massive, dazed bulk of Edward Hyde pinned her to the ground.  
  
"I am sure that, if I were capable of pain, I would be making a similar comment," Terry said, looking over at her. "Still, we should be attempting to lift Edward Hyde off before the T-X recovers from the damage done by Tom Sawyer's shot."  
  
Mina groaned a little; she'd already made up her mind to attempt that even before Terry had spoken.  
  
"You know, you may appear human," Mina grunted, as she attempted to heave Hyde off her, "but I think it might be an idea to work on improving your people skills in the future, if we survive this fight."  
  
"I shall kept that in mind," Terry replied, as he joined Mina in their attempts to move the massive, currently fairly useless bulk that was Hyde. However, even their combined strength was insufficient; evidently Hyde was heavier than anyone had fully appreciated.  
  
Just as Mina was about to give up, she felt something give above her. However, hopes of escape were dashed when Hyde was suddenly dragged back of her and Terry, and she found herself staring at the T-X once again.  
  
Quick as a flash, Mina leapt back up to her feet and slashed at the T-X's face, her nails cutting deeply into its makeshift flesh. The wounds began to heal again pretty quickly, but before the T-X could retaliate Terry had charged into her from the left, shoving her into the railing.  
  
Before she rejoined the fight, Mina quickly glanced over to check on Hyde. He was still unconscious, but he appeared to be coming back to reality again. Sure that he'd be available to help them soon, Mina turned around and charged at the battle, her claws out to stab directly into the T-X's back.  
  
*****  
  
Looking behind her while continuing to fend off Terry's blows, the T-X saw the vampire charging forward. Before the claws could enter, the T-X had grabbed Mina's right wrist and twisted it violently. An audible crack sounded from it; the wrist was broken.  
  
Roaring in pain, Mina slashed desperately at the T-X with her left hand, but only succeeded in slightly scratching her on the neck. Before she could attack again, the T-X struck Mina with several various quick punches before knocking Mina back into the wall, near the hole that she had appeared from originally.  
  
Dazed from the pain, Mina still had enough coherent thought to know that she had to attend to her wrist. As her mind wavered, she reached over to her right wrist and shoved the bone back where it should be.  
  
Then she lost consciousness, her body finally unable to take the pain. 


	4. The Truth

Disclaimer: The usual: I own nothing you know, that sort of thing.  
  
Feedback: Please do.  
  
Skynet Spreads  
  
Just above her, Sawyer had just arrived on the ship's top deck, the rain tearing down him as he checked his pistols for bullets before moving to the front.  
  
The scene in front of him was not one he was happy to see. Hyde was lying on the ground, the burn on his chest still vivid and he himself showing little signs of getting up any time soon. Mina was on the ground below him, looking like she was currently out of it, with several small bruises sprouting on her face. Terry was currently trying to hold the T-X back from his unconscious friends, but he didn't seem to be coping too well.  
  
Time I contributed to this thing again, Sawyer thought, as he whipped out his pistols and aimed them at the T-X. She was pretty close to Terry, but he was confident that he could strike her without hitting him.  
  
He fired. Both bullets struck her in the side of the head, directly where the 'pressure point' would be in a human skull. From what he recalled of his knowledge of human anatomy, the bone there was less strong than anywhere else, so conceivably a human thumb pressed there hard enough would go through it.  
  
It appeared that the same wasn't true for the T-X. The bullets did wound her, but not as badly as his previous shots. Looking up at him, she suddenly struck Terry even harder and knocked him onto his feet.  
  
Before Sawyer could fully process that, the T-X was right in front of him, and had whipped out what appeared to be a simple nozzle. However, remembering what Terry had mentioned, Sawyer ducked sharply to the right, just before she launched off a massive burst of flame where he'd been standing.  
  
As he landed on the ground, Sawyer launched off four bullets from his guns at the T-X, desperately trying to keep it back. Daring a look, he was relieved to see that his bullets had struck the T-X in the chest, although she didn't seem to be hampered by them. With no other choice available to him, Sawyer fired off his last few bullets at her, charging forward as he fired. While they distracted the T-X, Sawyer leapt off the edge of the deck, rolling as he struck the lower one.  
  
Looking around in the brief seconds before the T-X joined him on the deck as he reloaded his guns, Sawyer was horrified to note that the others were still all out of it; Terry appeared to be regaining consciousness, as did Hyde, but he couldn't be certain they'd be up soon enough to help him. Mina was still completely unconscious; he couldn't expect any help from her.  
  
Dammit! Sawyer thought to himself, as he heard the T-X crash onto the ground behind him as he just managed to finish reloading his guns. Spinning around, Sawyer launched off two bullets at the T-X, but still failed to cause anything worse than a couple of holes on it.  
  
Just as the T-X was preparing to fire its flamethrower again, the massive form of Edward Hyde crashed into it from the side, grabbing it by both arms and turning its flamethrower on itself. Despite the rain, the flamethrower was extremely effective; it completely burned away the T-X's upper body and head flesh, along with all its hair and whatever covered its eyes.  
  
"Take that, you bitch!" Hyde yelled, as the flamethrower apparently ran out of juice. The head that was left didn't look even remotely human; it was tall and thin, with large electric-blue eyes and a wicked-looking mouth. What parts of the body had been exposed were simple metal, that appeared to link together in a very elaborate-looking way.  
  
"Nice one, Hyde!" Sawyer yelled, as the T-X stared up at Hyde with what could possibly be called hatred in its eyes.  
  
"Thanks, Sawyer. Now, if you didn't mind, there's something I'd like to check out..." Hyde said. Before Sawyer could react to that, Hyde had lifted the T-X high above his head and had thrown it over the side of the boat!  
  
"What the... Are you insane, Hyde?!" Sawyer yelled at the League's muscle, as he noted Terry get back to his feet. "It's after the League, remember; if it's in the ocean it'll target the Nautilus! They won't have a chance!"  
  
"Far from it," Hyde replied, his low growl still audible even over the now torrential rain. "I was partly conscious for most of this fight, and Henry and I have noticed something about the T-X; we think it's only after you or Mina."  
  
"What?" Sawyer asked, baffled. "That's ridiculous; Terry told us it was the League's protégés that stopped Skynet, not the protégés of Mina or I!"  
  
"No," Hyde said, as Terry looked over the side of the boat at where the T-X had fallen. "He said it was our protégés. He never said whose specifically."  
  
"When it charges back up here, then I'll be prepared to acknowledge that I may be its target," Sawyer replied, trying to sound disdainful of Hyde's theory. However, Hyde noted that Sawyer was checking his guns for ammunition while he said that. If nothing else, it was a good sign he didn't believe what he was saying himself.  
  
No sooner were the bullets in, than the T-X was back in front of them. Its flesh had completely regenerated as though Hyde had never even attacked it; it didn't even look that wet, although in the rain it was admittedly rather hard to tell.  
  
Just as Sawyer had taken in its new weapon (Something he couldn't immediately identify, but it looked like something he'd seen in Nemo's workshop), Terry had fired his weapon at it from behind. From what Sawyer could see he was using the same weapon as he had the first time he'd fired, so it must have been able to do varying degrees of damage, given that this blast blew the T-X right through the opposite railing and back into the ocean before it could fire a single shot.  
  
Walking forward to join Sawyer and Hyde, Terry surveyed the hole the T-X had been blown through.  
  
"She'll be back," he said simply.  
  
"Hopefully, not for a couple of minutes," Sawyer said, turning to face the mysterious character. "There's something we want to know, Terry. That T-X seems to be mainly gunning for Mina or I, and has just been stopped by you or Hyde attacking her. Why is that?"  
  
Terry replied to that automatically. "The reason is simple; it was not the protégés of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in general that stopped Skynet in this timeline. It was the protégés of Tom Sawyer and Mina Harker; the brother and sister team of Rebecca and Jonathan Sawyer, remarkable shots gifted with impressive physical strength and great agility, who prevented Skynet's coming online on the sixteenth of July 2005."  
  
"Wait a minute... Sawyer? As in..." Sawyer said, but found unable to complete that thought.  
  
However, Terry finished it for him. "As in you. They are the great- grandchildren of yourself and Mina Harker."  
  
*****  
  
Mina heard almost every bit of that conversation from where she was lying; even over the rain her hearing was excellent, and she'd regained consciousness as the T-X had struck the deck. However, it was that comment about the descendants that really got her awake again.  
  
"WHAT?!" she yelled, leaping to her feet and staring over at the other three. "But... But I can't have children!"  
  
"Really?" Hyde said, looking over at Mina. He seemed to be the only one interested in talking right now; Sawyer was in a state of shock and Terry appeared to have shifted over to his 'ready for attack ' mode. "And yet, as I recall, you have a young son called Quincey Jonathan Abraham Arthur Harker, whom you gave birth to after Dracula bit you?"  
  
"Well, yes, but John and I...conceived him before the bite happened!" Mina replied, trying to find some logic in it all. "Vampires are naturally sterile, Hyde! I cannot have children now!"  
  
Suddenly, Sawyer butted in. "Did any vampire ever try the old way before trying the new one?"  
  
"What?" Mina asked.  
  
"I mean, I know a vampire can be made by another vampire biting a human on the neck and all," Sawyer said. "But before they did that, did any vampire try to make a kid... y'know, the old-fashioned way?"  
  
Mina suddenly realized what he was thinking. Maybe vampires were simply sterile because, since their bodies were now definitely reproducing one way, the other had stopped working. It did make a sort of sense...  
  
"Good... point, Tom," she replied, walking over to join the others. "It definitely bears thinking about.  
  
"Well, could we possibly discuss that after the T-X has been destroyed?" Hyde put in; he was looking slightly on edge, as though something was wrong. Sawyer and Mina recognised those signs easily; his body language indicated that the serum that transformed him had begun to run out. Evidently the damage he'd taken when the T-X had shot him had done more to him than he liked to show.  
  
"Right," Sawyer said, as he whipped out his guns again and pointed them over at where the T-X had fallen. "Hyde, do you have a spare sample of your serum on you anywhere, or is one bottle all you ever have on you?"  
  
"That's it," Hyde replied.  
  
"Well, we'll just have to improvise. If you feel about to change, run and dive down to the Nautilus; if nothing else, you can get another serum sample there. Mina, Terry and I will just have to hold this thing back as best we can."  
  
"Right," Hyde said, flexing his fingers. "Then I'll just have to get in a few good hits right now."  
  
No sooner had he said that, than the T-X tore up out of the ocean, facing the League. It was still using the same weapon it had active when it fell over the first time, but it was actually starting to look angry now.  
  
Not willing to give it a chance to fire, Sawyer and Terry picked up their weapons and fired every shot they could before it could retaliate. Then, when Sawyer had run out of bullets, Hyde and Mina charged forward, Mina slashing at the T-X with her nails and her now-drawn sword while Hyde just punched and scratched like a mad thing. When they finally stopped, the T- X's makeshift flesh was practically nonexistent around the face, and her shirt was in shreds around her. Fortunately enough was left for the sake of decency; more likely than not Mina had been attacking down there and didn't want to give Hyde something to drool over.  
  
"Ready to give up yet?" Mina asked the T-X, as she stepped back and held her sword out in front of her. In reply, the T-X simply roared and struck out, in a blow that even Mina's lightning-fast reflexes found difficult to counter. No sooner had the blow been deflected, Mina had placed one hand on the T-X's face, grabbed its weapon with her other one, and shoved and pulled simultaneously.  
  
Instantly, the T-X's latest weapon came away in Mina's hand. Before the T-X could react, Mina had passed the weapon on to Hyde and it had been crushed into powder.  
  
*****  
  
Roaring at the vampire, the T-X instantly shifted its weapon arm to a fourth weapon, this one more basic than the others. It was a long sword stretched out to a length that matched Mina's, but honed to a far finer point.  
  
Instantly, the T-X began to slash and swipe away at Mina, the vampire barely able to keep all the blows away from her. Part of her was hoping someone would fire at the T-X and give her an opening, but the other part knew that she was too close to the T-X for even Tom's rapidly improving aim to fire without the risk of hitting her.  
  
She would just have to give him a better opening.  
  
Ducking under the T-X's latest strike, Mina sidestepped around the T-X until she was right behind it. As soon as she was, she stood back up and grabbed the T-X around the neck and waist.  
  
"Terry! Fire!" she yelled at the machine. Terry responded at once, picking up his gun and firing three shots at the T-X.  
  
Each shot knocked the T-X back a little further, and tore through the metal that was her chest. By the time Terry had stopped firing, the T-X's metallic innards were exposed to the open air, and her and Mina were at the hole in the railings where she'd fallen off the ship earlier.  
  
With the T-X still disoriented (Or whatever the machine equivalent was), Mina took one desperate chance to buy them more time; she leapt up over the T-X and kicked out at her head. Even Hyde couldn't have taken that kick without some kind of reaction; the T-X fell back and landed in the ocean again. 


	5. Their Final Hope

Disclaimer: The usual: I own nothing you know, that sort of thing.  
  
Feedback: Please do.  
  
Skynet Spreads  
  
As Mina landed back on the deck, she glanced up at the others. "I have a plan," she said simply. "Hyde, head down to the Nautilus and get them to resurface. Once they're up, have Hartdegen transport his machine up here; I've heard he's making progress with travels through space."  
  
"Got it," Hyde replied, before he turned around and leapt off the side of the ship. The splash that resulted was so large that it rocked the boat; fortunately Terry and Mina had remarkable balance, while Tom managed to grab onto Terry to keep his footing.  
  
"Your plan, Mina?" Tom asked, as the boat finally got back to its original position.  
  
"Well, it occurred to me that, when Hartdegen travels through time, time around him and his machine most go faster than it does for him personally, correct?" Mina said, as she joined the two of them.  
  
"Makes sense," Tom replied, nodding. Then, enlightenment dawned on him. "Oh, I get it! We get the T-X on the machine at the same time as you or Terry are on it, and you get it going forwards in time. Then you knock the T-X outside whatever it is that protects the machine..."  
  
"And viola! It rusts!" Mina finished, grinning.  
  
"An efficient plan," Terry replied. "But we must ensure that some part of the T-X remains in the machine, or she shall simply fall into whatever time she is in."  
  
"Good point," Tom said, as he glanced over at where the Nautilus had descended into the ocean. "Let's hope she doesn't try to shoot whoever gets that job."  
  
Just as that was out of his mouth, the massive sleek silver form of the Nautilus burst out of the ocean, with Hyde clinging to the front of it like a small child unwilling to be dragged away from its mother. As the Nautilus fell back onto the ocean, Hyde leapt onto the top deck and ran to the observation tower, where the faint forms of Nemo, Hartdegen and Skinner could be seen.  
  
"Come on, come on..." Sawyer said, as his eyes flicked from the Nautilus to the hole in the railings.  
  
After only a couple of minutes, one figure left the viewing tower, and the other two got onto Hyde's arms. The massive figure turned around and ran along the top deck of the Nautilus, before leaping off and landing back on the ship. (It nearly tipped over onto its side, but fortunately Nemo and Skinner got off and joined the others on the other end, where they managed to balance it out)  
  
"We understand that you have a plan for stopping the T-X?" Nemo asked, as he drew his sword, managing to look impressive despite the rain that had his normally curled moustaches, and indeed his entire beard, hanging down in a style that resembled old seaweed.  
  
Skinner looked in slightly better condition; acknowledging that his invisibility wouldn't help them here, he was wearing trousers and a shirt for a change, along with his usual hat and coat. He hadn't put his face- paint on, but he managed to give the appearance of being fairly warm.  
  
Apart from Nemo's sword, he and Skinner were also carrying what appeared to be some extra weapons Hartdegen had acquired for Terry and hadn't been selected by him. Both were holding their weapons in a prepared manner, and aiming at the hole where the T-X had fallen off the ship.  
  
"Yeah, we do," Sawyer said. "Mina filled us in on it, but it depends on either her or Terry getting on the time machine and taking the T-X forward in time while leaving her outside the machine's protective... whatever."  
  
"Oh, I get it," Skinner said, nodding at them. "Then it'll age to death in a matter of seconds and be destroyed!"  
  
"Essentially accurate," Terry replied, as he cocked his weapon and joined the League in aiming at the hole in the railings. "However, the success of the plan depends upon Alexander Hartdegen arriving here before the T-X gets out of the ocean, or he runs the risk of getting attacked."  
  
"Well, then excuse me for a minute," Sawyer said, cocking his rifle and walking towards the hole in the railings. He aimed the gun down, waited a couple of seconds, and then fired. The others heard a small bang, and then something appeared to sink. "Hit it in the head," Sawyer explained as he looked back at the others. "Should keep it occupied long enough for Hartdegen to get here."  
  
"Speak of the devil; I think that's him!" Skinner grinned, as an empty area of deck nearby suddenly rippled like a lake hit by a stone, and Hartdegen and his time machine appeared.  
  
It appeared that Hartdegen's modifications had worked; they may have been just a couple of small metal pipes sticking out the back of the machine, but they definitely got it moving. All Hartdegen had to do was move one of the new levers he'd installed on the machine and he could direct the machine anywhere he wished.  
  
He looked up at the others. He'd forgotten to put a raincoat on and was looking slightly cold, but still appeared determined.  
  
"What's the plan?" he asked, getting out of the machine.  
  
"We get the T-X in there and then have it outside the machine while going forwards in time," Mina explained quickly.  
  
"That should work," Hartdegen replied, nodding with approval. "So long as part of it is kept inside the machine, that should be possible. However, you do realise that-" Mina held up a hand to stop him speaking.  
  
"I know, I know; we'll need someone to hold her inside the machine in the process. I'm prepared to do that, but I just need a quick grounding in what does what."  
  
Hartdegen sighed and stepped aside to allow Mina into the machine. As she sat down, he indicated the quartz-headed lever. "It's simple enough; just push that forward to go into the future, and pull it back to go back. In its present condition it stops, but you want to be sure you know where you're going before you pull it there; reaction time's a little slow and you could overshoot your destination."  
  
*****  
  
"I'll keep that in mind," Mina said, as she glanced briefly at the dials in front of her; January the tenth, 1900. There was also a watch right beside them, giving the time as being ten forty-five p.m. in a couple of minutes.  
  
Just as that had been taken in, she saw a mass of water burst over the side of the ship, followed closely by the T-X. She had changed her weapon again, and was now using what looked some kind of spray gun.  
  
"Is it just me or is that thing really stupid?" Skinner asked, looking at the new weapon.  
  
The T-X turned to face Skinner, and fired a jet of a liquid from the weapon. Skinner instinctively ducked to the side, but the liquid still caught the hem of his coat, burning it away in a few small seconds.  
  
"That's acid!" Tom yelled, as Skinner glanced back and saw his damaged coat.  
  
"Hey, I liked this coat!" he yelled at the T-X, cocking his gun and firing at it.  
  
The shot wasn't a very good one; even Mina could see that. Skinner held the gun like it would go off any minute and blow his head off, and he dropped it as soon as he pulled the trigger. However, it managed to do some damage; it struck the T-X directly in the head, leaving a hole so big it encompassed the entire forehead.  
  
Now or never! Mina thought to herself.  
  
"Hyde!" she yelled. "Throw her over here, now!"  
  
Hyde nodded, grabbed the T-X by the leg, and threw it towards Mina as the head began to regenerate. Grabbing the T-X by the leg, Mina swung it down over the side of the machine and then pushed the quartz lever forward.  
  
"Wish me luck!" she yelled over at the League, before they vanished from view.  
  
*****  
  
Once the machine had actually gotten going, Mina glanced around her at what was happening. A large pale blue bubble of some kind, which stretched around the machine from the glass plates, had surrounded it very comfortably. Or rather, it had surrounded the machine comfortably; the T- X's head and arms were sticking out of the bubble, and the T-X's clothes were decomposing at an alarming rate. However, its flesh appeared to be currently undamaged; if anything the time winds were restoring it to consciousness.  
  
Glancing down at the T-X's legs, Mina noticed that they were starting to twitch; she'd need to get them outside the bubble as well, or she'd probably be kicked.  
  
Using her vampire strength to her advantage, she flipped the T-X directly above her head, leaving only one foot of the T-X's inside the time machine's protective bubble. Mina almost lost her balance when she discovered how heavy the T-X was, but managed to regain it in time.  
  
Glancing up, she saw that the T-X was starting to look like she was in trouble; all her clothes had vanished by this point, and her skin had partly vanished as well. All that was left was a body that was apparently composed of various metal plates and cables, along with the head (Which came as a bit of a surprise to her, especially the blue eyes) and the rather long arms, the right one still possessing the acid gun that had been fired at Skinner.  
  
As Mina looked up, the T-X looked down at her, its face changing to resemble an angry human face, almost believable baring the fact that it was a silvery colour. The face roared at Mina and tried to attack, but even the T-X couldn't make its legs shrink to reach Mina. Mina was prepared to bet good money that her acid gun was useless as well; at the rate they were travelling into the future the acid would probably take too long to reach her to cause any damage.  
  
"You wanted to change the future? You've just written it in stone!" Mina yelled up at the T-X, as the metal began to corrode. Desperately, the T-X shifted were weapon from the acid spray to something that looked like its first weapon, but no sooner had it changed than the entire arm fell off from age. Then, as the T-X finally collapsed in on itself, Mina let go of its leg. It flew off into whatever time they were currently in, falling to pieces as it fell.  
  
Glancing at the dial, Mina saw that she was about in the year 2857. Reaching over to the quartz lever, she pulled it back, and left it there until she finally began to approach the year 1900.  
  
It was over.  
  
They'd won.  
  
*****  
  
"Does it normally take this long for someone to get back from a trip?" Sawyer asked Hartdegen, as the League and Terry stood on the ship's deck, not moving so much as an inch in case Mina moved the machine a little too far in one direction.  
  
Hyde was getting a bit frustrated by now; his serum was almost completely used up, and he wanted to get back to the Nautilus before he became Jekyll again.  
  
"I don't think so, but then again she isn't as experienced with it as I am," Hartdegen replied, before glancing over at Hyde, Skinner, and Nemo. "You know, you three don't have any reason to wait around here now; maybe you should just go back to the Nautilus?"  
  
Nemo and Skinner looked at each other and shrugged.  
  
"Fair enough," Skinner replied, as he leapt up onto Hyde's left arm while Nemo grabbed the right (Hyde was looking positively eager to get going; he didn't want to be dependant on anyone to get anywhere). As soon as they were comfortable, Hyde ran off the boat and leapt back onto the Nautilus, pounding onwards until he reached the watchtower. It was a close thing; as soon as he'd landed, Sawyer, Hartdegen and Terry saw him start to convulse and shrink, until he was the barely-visible form of Doctor Jekyll.  
  
As the League members walked back inside the Nautilus, Sawyer saw a small flicker in the air out of the corner of his eye. Turning around, he smiled as he saw the distortion in the air that he recognised from the arrival of the Morlocks. After only a couple of seconds it had vanished, to be replaced by the large form of the time machine, with Mina sitting inside it.  
  
She looked over at the other three people still there, and grinned at them.  
  
"It's over," she said, as she got out of the machine and hugged Sawyer. Then she glanced over at Terry. "So, what will you be doing now? Going home?"  
  
"Negative," Terry replied. "The time displacement chamber that sent me back here was one-way only. I shall remain."  
  
Sawyer, Mina and Hartdegen looked over at each other quizzically. Eventually, Sawyer shrugged.  
  
"Well, why not? He is extraordinary, after all."  
  
"Yes, but is it anything that we don't have already?" Hartdegen pointed out. "I mean, raw strength, fair enough, but surely Hyde and Mina already bring that to us."  
  
"Point," Mina said, before glancing over at Terry. "Sorry to be rude, but can you do anything else beside take a lot on punishment?"  
  
"Affirmative," Terry said, before he suddenly began speaking in Sawyer's voice. "Is this interesting enough?"  
  
"What...?" Mina asked, staring at Terry in amazement. "How do you do that?"  
  
"I am capable of absorbing, sampling and playing back any human voice I hear," Terry replied in his normal voice. "I also possess detailed files on several varied subjects, including human anatomy and basic psychology. I am a qualified expert in several remarkably varied topics, all of which I am more than content to place at your disposal."  
  
Sawyer and Mina exchanged glances, and shrugged. Sawyer walked towards Terry. "Sounds good," he said, holding out one hand. "Welcome aboard."  
  
Terry took the hand and shook it. "Thank you."  
  
"Just one thing," Hartdegen put in. "If you're going to be sticking around, you need a real name. 'Terminator' doesn't work, and 'Terry' just doesn't sound right by itself. How about... Terry Michael Nator?"  
  
"Is there any particular reason why?" Terry asked blankly.  
  
"Look at it this way," Hartdegen explained. "Terry= Ter, Michael=Mi, and Nator. Ter-Mi-Nator, get it?"  
  
"An interesting choice," Terry replied, before nodding. "I shall use it, Alexander Hartdegen."  
  
"Great. Oh, one more thing; can you stop calling us by our full names?" Hartdegen asked, as Mina sprouted her vampire wings and picked up Sawyer before flying to the Nautilus. "Just call us... well, listen to what everyone else calls us and use that. OK?"  
  
"Of course...Hartdegen," Terry replied, before he got onto the time machine with Hartdegen.  
  
*****  
  
As Hartdegen set the machine's coordinates for a brief hope a few seconds into the future and a few hundred metres to left (The approximate location of the Nautilus) He found himself amazed at the sudden change to his lifestyle. Only a month or so ago, he'd been a small-time American teacher still recovering from his fiancé's death, and now he was working with a group that saved the world on a regular basis, and included a vampire, a man you couldn't see, and now a sentient machine from a possible future!  
  
Wonder who'll join us next...? Hartdegen thought to himself, as he pulled the lever that sent them off to the Nautilus. I have to admit, I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do.  
  
AN: Those of you wondering why I have made the Terminator a member of the LXG, the reason is simple; I wanted a League member who was not only remarkably strong, but could also being something else to the League. The Terminator was the first person I thought of who could get back to the time of the League and give them something extra. 


End file.
